Use Your Voice As A MIDI Controller

Dubler Studio Kit lets you lay down melodies and do much more directly from voice to DAW. 13/03/19

London based creative music technology start-up Vochlea Music, graduates of the Abbey Road Studios music technology incubator and winners of the SXSW 2018 Pitch Competition, have announced the Dubler Studio Kit, which they describe as a highly innovative, live vocal recognition MIDI controller.

George Wright, Vochlea Music CEO and Founder, told us, “The Dubler Studio Kit unlocks musical expression, fuels creativity and is generally a lot of fun. It speeds up the traditional music creation workflow by allowing the user to control and manipulate MIDI outputs through audio inputs. Essentially meaning you can lay down melodies, drum loops, effects tracks... whatever you want, directly from voice to DAW.”

Here's more details direct from VochleaMusic...

The kit offers up an intuitive, never seen before method for musicians to translate their musical ideas into reality, using the one instrument they’ve been practising since birth— the voice.

From amateur to pro, the most natural way for a musician to communicate an idea for a sound, melody or beat is using the voice— our built-in tool for audio expression. Artists all sing, hum and record voice memos of musical ideas, but that’s often where the idea ends, never actually making it into the studio or onto the stage.

Capturing those ideas using traditional instrumentation and MIDI inputs can be challenging and requires know-how, even for the most accomplished musician. Vochlea Music’s vocal recognition AI technology unlocks the power of the voice, allowing musicians to create music and control sounds, quicker and more and intuitively than ever before.

The Dubler Studio Kit allows artists to release the stems of musical ideas trapped in their heads and get them straight into their production software [DAW], by simply using their voice.

Just imagine being able to hum a synth pattern, beatbox to trigger a virtual drumkit, or manipulate effects and filters with a “hmmm”, “laaaa” or “oohhh” sound— all in real-time.

Pre-launch beta testers of the new technology include Mercury Prize Nominated MC and producer Novelist, alongside a host of talented, genre-spanning musicians and producers.

The kit comes as two parts. First is the Dubler software, a virtual MIDI instrument for Mac and PC that’s compatible with any music production software [DAW]. Second, is the Dubler microphone— a custom low-latency USB mic, tuned for the Dubler software. Training your voice to the kit takes less than 60 seconds, allowing users to start making music almost immediately.

Using all of the timbral qualities of the voice, Dubler Studio Kit allows musicians to trigger samples, control synths, manipulate filters and effects, track pitch, pitch-bend and control envelopes, velocity and MIDI mapping values simultaneously, based on the way they make their unique sounds.

With the Dubler Studio Kit, It’s not just about the note you sing, but the way you sing it.

Today, the Dubler Studio Kit launches as a Kickstarter project, looking to raise £40,000 over 35 days. During the campaign, backers will have the opportunity to pledge to be amongst the first Dubler Studio Kit users.

Kickstarter backers will receive fulfilment priority when the kits are delivered in mid-2019.